Accent on preventive care

The main objective of the proposed reforms in the primary health care sector will be to refocus on preventive care, Health Minister Louis Deguara said yesterday.

"The reforms will redirect the work of health care professionals in the health centres from one which deals with routine administrative issues and basic curative care to one where the service provision will concentrate more on health promotion and disease prevention.

"This, to date, has not been possible because of the short consultation period currently available to health care professionals, dictated by the quantitative approach to health centre management," he said.

He said that the focus should move to quality, rather than quantity, by reconsidering the provision of certain non-essential medical services that are currently being provided from the health centres. Valuable professional time could then be redirected towards health promotion and disease prevention.

"These changes will allow the development of more specialised clinics in health centres where a comprehensive, holistic approach to patient care can be provided by a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals."

He was speaking during the biannual primary health care department conference on Teamwork in Primary Healthcare - Realising Shared Aims in Patient Care.